Clinton Portis hints at retirement

Clinton Portis’s many media appearances this week didn’t lead to any definitive statement on his football future. He sure seems done, but you kind of expect that he’ll come out and say it at some point.

The closest he came, that I saw, came in his Web chat for ESPN.com, and it went like this:

Dave (NJ)
Would you like to get back on a team so you can get those last 77 yards to get to 10,000 for your career?

Clinton Portis
I would love it, but in trying to get those 77 yards, you’re risking a lot. You’re risking the injury, the setback. If I could just go back on the field for 1-2 weeks, I promise you I could get them. But having to go into a whole offseason is hard to do when I know I could get the 77 yards in a week or two.
That sounds like a man whose football career has ended.

And indeed, before he went to Bristol, Portis posted this on his new Twitter account:

Check me out this AM espn “first take” “mike and mike” maybe this tv transition is waiting

The other interesting thing on his chat came when he was asked about the coaches he’s played for.

Dan (Washington, DC) (Not Me):
You played for Gibbs and Shanahan -- who did you enjoy playing for more?

Clinton Portis:
Coach Gibbs got the best out of everybody. He made you come out and you just felt like you were going to accomplish the unaccomplishable. He was always giving the extra mile, the extra fight. You just knew it was going to come down to toughness. We knew we would be tougher than every team. There were probably three blowouts in the time he was there. We knew we were going to be in every game. Other than that, every game was basically the last posession.

As for the Twitter account, which Portis promoted at the end of his ESPN.com chat, well, it has some potential.

“Why do white girls have 2 first names?” he asked recently. “I would be hot w my mom... Clinton earl ain’t no better.. But it beats Mary jo, John earl, and this other craziness lmao.”


(washingtonpost.com)